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June 10, 2025

.XXX Becomes an Open TLD—What Does It Mean for You?

Domain Management

In November last year, .XXX’s registry agreement was renewed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)—but not without an update that requires some attention to ensure your brand remains secure.

The big change is that .XXX has gone from a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) to an open TLD. Being an sTLD meant those wanting to register a .XXX domain name had to successfully apply to become a member of its sponsored community, verifying they either worked in the adult industry and intended to use the domain for content, or they were a verified trademark holder wishing to defensively register a domain containing their trademark. Any domains registered by those in the latter category were automatically put on server hold, meaning the domain was registered but couldn’t be used to host content.

November’s renewal saw the sponsored TLD requirement lifted, making .XXX an open TLD, available for anyone to register and nullifying the need to be a part of the sponsored community to register domains. That means it’s now critical for brands to:

  1. Check that they have sufficient blocking coverage from either AdultBlock or AdultBlock+. AdultBlock prevents your exact trademark from being registered on any of the four adult domain extensions, which includes .XXX. AdultBlock+ blocks the exact registration of your trademark as well as variations, including possible typos and name variations.
  2. Be aware of any defensively registered .XXX domains in your portfolio that have configurations set up on the domain (e.g., automatic forwarding). Because .XXX is now an open TLD, all previous server holds on domains will be lifted.

Overall, the changes shouldn’t have too much impact for those with the correct defensive measures in place, but it’s important to check your brand strings have the correct coverage, especially if you’ve had new brand launches since AdultBlock was released in 2021.

If you’d like to talk to a CSC representative about your strategy around .XXX domains, please contact your strategic account manager, or complete our contact form.